Sean Duffy was selected as Trump’s secretary of transportation

AV Safety in the U.S.: Replacing Senator Duffy on the Challenge of the Trump Administration to Protect the Future of Motor Vehicles

The federal government has largely taken a back seat to in regulating autonomous vehicles, leaving states to develop their own rulebooks for safe deployment — which Duffy said was not ideal. Legislation that would dramatically increase the number of AVs on the road has been stalled in Congress for over seven years, with lawmakers at odds over a range of issues, including safety, liability, and the right number of exemptions from federal motor vehicle safety standards.

But Congress has taken up several proposals over the past decade, with little to show for it. And its unclear whether major differences will be settled by the time the next opportunity arises.

He didn’t say anything more about stepping into a role that would put him at odds with Musk. He did say that there needs to be national legislation to better regulate the safety of self-drive vehicles. He said:

This technology can make our roads safer, and it also has the potential of being a national security issue. We can’t fall behind China or other countries as it comes to AV technology. There is a patchwork of laws from state to state. I believe there has to be a federal law by which all of these innovators can abide by it, no matter if they’re in Texas or in California or somewhere else. I always make sure that safety is the priority. But after safety, we want to give a wide runway for these companies and innovators to create products that are going to bring us this new technology that, again, can revolutionize the way we get items, how we travel, whether you’re taking an Uber or … It can be remarkable and exciting.

Federal regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, part of the DOT, are investigating crashes involving Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance systems. Safety advocates worry that the Trump administration will end the investigations along with the crash reporting requirement.

He said that he would allow the NHTSA to do their investigation. “I think I also mentioned to you that a lot of the players in these spaces, I haven’t met any of them.”

He made the comments during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday in front of the Senate Commerce Committee. The senator from Massachusetts asked if he could remain neutral in investigating the company, headed by a supporter of the president.

You might know him from: Fox News, where Duffy has been a contributor since 2020. He also spent more than 8 years in Congress as a GOP Representative from his native Wisconsin.

Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation, and Tammy Baldwin: What to Expect from a Cabinet Selector: Trump’s Speaker Address on Capitol Hill

Position: The Secretary of Transportation leads a department with a budget of more than $100 billion that’s tasked with maintaining the nation’s aviation system, highways, railroads and ports.

That project required action by Congress to grant an exemption from the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Duffy’s work to make that happen helped endear him to several Democrats in the Senate, including Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.

During the confirmation hearing to lead the Department of Transport, the relationship that the new bridge built came up several times.

When Duffy flew into Minneapolis, he went across the bridge he was born and raised on. I’m proud of the bipartisan work we did together and I want to continue that work if I’m confirmed.

While some of President-elect Trump’s cabinet nominees faced sharp questioning from Democrats on Capitol Hill this week, Duffy received an overwhelmingly friendly welcome from Baldwin and other members of the Senate Commerce Committee.

During his confirmation hearing, he said he would reduce the red tape that slows critical infrastructure projects to ensure funds are spent efficiently. He pledged to bring “tough love” to Boeing as regulators work to restore confidence in the struggling airplane maker. He said that he’d fix the air traffic controllers shortage by hiring the best and the brightest.

Many of Trump’s cabinet nominees have been considered by Fox News. But few have as much experience on camera as Duffy, who starred on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston” in 1997. He met his future wife Rachel Campos-Duffy, a fellow Fox News contributor, when they both starred on another MTV reality show. Nine of the couple’s children, along with their mother, were present at the hearing.

Her life has been changed irrevocably because of the deadly head-on car crash my wife survived, that hits close to home for me.

Source: Trump’s Cabinet pick for secretary of transportation is Sean Duffy. Here’s what to know

Highway Safety in the Trail: State Sens. Ed Markey’s Visit to Northern New Jersey and Senator Andy Kim’s Challenge on Amtrak Funding

The outgoing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also had little direct experience in transportation before taking the reins. The bipartisan infrastructure law gave the department billions of dollars to build roads and bridges under the leadership of Buttigieg.

Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) asked specifically about funding for the Gateway Program, a multi-billion dollar project to replace a series of crumbling rail tunnels and bridges connecting northern New Jersey to Manhattan.

Now safety advocates worry that Musk may try to influence the federal agencies that regulate his businesses. The FAA has sometimes clashed with his rocket company over their launch practices.

Senator Ed Markey pressed if he would allow investigators to follow the evidence and operate objectively as part of their investigations.

Duffy acknowledged voting against Amtrak funding when he was a member of Congress from rural Wisconsin. He said that the committee had spoken about rail in their home communities.

The first trip by the transportation secretary would be to the mountain regions of Tennessee and North Carolina, ravaged by flooding from Hurricane Helene, where many small roads and bridges were damaged.

“This is an emergency,” Duffy said. “I’ll do everything in the power of the Department for Transportation to move the process forward as quickly as possible so these communities get access and roads that are functional again.”